Choices
by Bohemian.Butterfly
Summary: Rusty knows overcoming your past isn't easy. Andy knows escaping your past is impossible. When Sharon is worried about Rusty and how he's handling the whole Gary/Sharon Beck situation, Andy offers to talk to Rusty about it. What ensues is nothing short of surprising for all three of them.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or M/C, but if I did, this is what would happen.

A/N: So, I wrote this fic for week 3 of the MC Hiatus Challenge on Tumblr. This week, the theme we were given was Platonic/Familial Relationships. So, I decided to write a Fathership fic of sorts. I really like the glimpses of a bond that we've gotten to see between Andy and Rusty so far and hopefully will continue to see in Season 5 and beyond. So, this fic is sort of inspired by that. It takes place later in the Hindsight arc after Sharon has already found out about Gary following Rusty and Sharon Beck getting arrested. Anyways, enjoy! 

**Choices**

Sharon and Andy were sitting at the dining room table eating take out when they heard the door slam.

"Rusty?" Sharon questioned Rusty as she got up from the dining room table to see what had him in such a bad mood.

"Sorry, mom. I didn't mean to slam the door that hard. I'm just aggravated with how the more life changes, the more it stays the same. It's nothing, really," said Rusty as he walked down the hall towards his room and shut the door.

Sharon stood there in stunned silence for a moment before Andy came up behind her and asked, "What was that about?"

"I'm not entirely sure. I know he's been upset about this whole Gary/Sharon Beck situation, but I'm sort of at a loss as to what to do to help him work through this. It's not like him to slam doors and be this angry," replied Sharon.

"I know we haven't necessarily talked about this until now and feel free to tell me if I'm stepping on your toes here by asking this, but what if I talk to him and see if I can get him to open up a little more about what's bothering him? We've started to form somewhat of a bond over the last few months. Maybe he'll talk to me and tell me what's going on," said Andy tentatively.

Sharon looked at Andy apprehensively for a moment before she said, "I mean, I guess it's worth a shot. Just don't be disappointed if he doesn't open up to you. It usually takes him a while before he's comfortable enough to open up to people about his problems like that."

"Don't worry. I'll tread lightly, I promise," said Andy as he began walking down the hall towards Rusty's room.

When Andy got to the door, he decided it best to knock first. After waiting a few seconds for a response and not hearing one, Andy said, "Hey, Rusty. It's Andy. Can I come in for a minute?"

From the other side of the door, he heard Rusty say, "Yeah, sure."

As Andy opened the door, he saw Rusty sitting in the chair at his desk. Andy left the door cracked open before he turned towards Rusty. He was just about to say something when Rusty asked him, "Did mom send you in here?"

"No. In fact, I think she was a little apprehensive about it when I asked her if it was okay if I came in here to talk to you," replied Andy.

"That's mom for you. Always worried about one of us kids," said Rusty.

"Occupational hazard, I guess. Believe me, you'll understand someday," said Andy as he took a seat on Rusty's bed.

"Hopefully not for a while," Rusty commented.

"Yeah. Let's let Emily or Ricky give her grandchildren first," Andy joked.

"In case you haven't noticed, she already has a grandma mode. Ever since she spent time with Ben and Finn at Christmas, she calls Emily and Ricky at least twice a month bugging them to get with it and find somebody to marry so they can give her grandchildren already," explained Rusty.

"I'll have to tease her about that later," said Andy.

"Yeah," replied Rusty.

"Okay, feel free to tell me to go to hell, but what's bugging you? Your mom said you've been upset about this whole Gary/Sharon Beck situation, but it seems like there's something else that's bugging you," Andy pointed out.

"It's just…I've worked so hard over the last few years to build a better life for myself and to be in a better place than I was when mom first took me in and it's just hard when my other mom and this time, Gary, just pop into my life at a moment's notice and screw everything up. It's like no matter what I do, I can't escape my past and it pisses me off because the last thing I wanna do is be a problem for mom," explained Rusty.

"First of all, I know the last thing you are for your mom is a problem. She loves you very much and if you're having an issue, she'd wanna know about it. That's what families are for, Rusty. They help us when we're down or having problems in our lives. Also, I hate to break it to you, but when it comes to the past, you can never really fully escape it. Sure, things get better, but the past is always lingering just around the corner in one way or another," said Andy.

"Well, that's reassuring," said Rusty sarcastically.

"It's just a fact of life. For years, I decided to ruin my life and became an alcoholic. That choice cost me my marriage, my family, and a lot of other things in my life and although things are much better now, they weren't always that way. After I got sober and began working the program, things didn't automatically get better just because I decided to get sober. For years, I didn't have a great relationship with my kids because of the choices I made when they were younger. Hell, even all these years later I'm still trying to work on having a decent relationship with my son," said Andy.

"What about Nicole? You seem to have a pretty good relationship with her," said Rusty.

"It wasn't always like that, Rusty. I had to work really hard to have the decent relationship we have now and even then, I can hardly take a lot of credit for that happening. A lot of that was your mom and her helping me repair my relationship with Nicole. I guess what I'm trying to say is the past follows you wherever you go. We can't escape it no matter how much better things get in our lives afterwards. I'll always be an alcoholic; your other mother will always be an addict. It's just a fact. It doesn't make either of us bad people. Just people who have made some bad choices along the way. What you have control over though is how much of that you're willing to let into your life at this point or if you wanna let any of it in at all, and for that, you're better off talking to your mom. As you know, she's had a little bit of experience with that. In fact, I'm pretty sure you could talk to her about it now if you want to because I'm 99.9% sure she's standing outside the door right now," said Andy as he saw Sharon push open the door.

"How did you know?" Sharon asked Andy as she walked into Rusty's room.

"My Sharon sense was tingling," Andy joked.

"You know that was super lame, right?" Rusty pointed out.

"Of course. That's why he said it," replied Sharon as she looked over and smiled at Andy for a moment.

Just then, Andy stood up as he said, "I'm gonna give you guys a few minutes to talk. I'll be in the kitchen if anybody wants to hear more of my lame jokes."

As Andy made his way towards the doorway, Rusty said, "Andy?"

"Yeah?" Andy asked him.

"Thanks," Rusty told him.

"No problem, kid," replied Andy as he smiled for a moment before exiting Rusty's room and making his way down the hall. 

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed this little one shot. As always, let me know what you thought of it by leaving me a review!


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